In the provision of human services particularly in the applied social sciences, alignment with evidence-based practice (EBP) is of paramount importance. As a psychology lecturer on an applied social care degree, I feel the burden of ensuring students understand EBP relevant to mental health for the clients they will work with and for themselves in a professional area with high burnout rates. The challenge begins by ensuring students are exposed to current relevant research. So, in the interests of exposure one must move to where students are: online! While students have a large online presence, only 28% of adult social media use in Ireland is through Twitter (IPSOS MBRI, 2017). However, academics are making use of online platforms, particularly Twitter, to highlight their current research. Twitter has been found to be an effective supplementary classroom tool (Rinaldo et al., 2011) and to have a positive effect on engagement and grades (Junco et al., 2010).
Therefore, to move online but in a research specific context, a Psy@ITCarlow Twitter account was set up. Students were encouraged to set up Twitter accounts to follow the page, however if they did not wish to do so, Twitter was embedded in their VLE course to allow all students access to content. The next step involved who to follow in order to retweet appropriate information, this is a work in progress. One has to be mindful of guarding against confirmation bias and provide information that provokes thought and discussion. From the outset the tagline on the account reads “RTs are not endorsement” and it is essential students understand this. While evaluation is ongoing, I have found Twitter particularly useful not just for research content but academic commentary to events/research/statistics/campaigns. For example on the subject of suicide, classroom theory was supplemented with research from the Suicide Research lab, the Samaritans 84 Campaign and academic reaction to it. My presentation will include my thoughts, reflections, lessons learned and possible future directions. For instance should I follow more student accounts and engage with their online profiles. Is being re-tweeting or ‘liked’ by a lecturer reinforcing? Bird food for thought or bird brained?
IPSOS MBRI (2017) Social Networking- Aug 2017, available https://www.ipsos.com/en-ie/social-networking-aug-2017 [accessed 04 April, 2018]
Junco, R., Heiberger, G., Loken, E. (2010) The effect of Twitter on college student engagement and grades. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, [online], 27 (2), available: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2010.00387.x
Rinaldo, S.B., Tapp, S., & Laverie, D.A. (2011) Learning by Tweeting, using Twitter as a pedagogical tool. Journal of Marketing Education, [online], 33 (2), available: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0273475311410852 [accessed 08/04/2018]
